Men are making a hefty increase in spending on their wives for Mother's Day this year — from $90.70, last year, to $108 this year, according to a Discover® card survey.

Overall, planned expenditures from all demographic groups for the holiday are also up, from $66.50 in 2007 to $70.30 this year (compared to the $138.63, predicted by the National Retail Federation as reported in last week's E-Brief).

The survey, conducted via phone in mid-April with a total of 1,003 "nationally representative" adults by Caravan Opinion Research Corporation, indicates good news for florists: 73 percent of survey participants said they intend to buy "flowers/greeting card" — also the No. 1 choice of gift recipients for the holiday (61 percent). Gifting moms with dinner out at a restaurant was a not-too-close second, chosen by 45 percent, followed by gift card (38 percent), apparel and jewelry (30 percent), music/books/DVDs/games (26 percent) spa treatment (25 percent), something homemade (21 percent) and a travel getaway (7 percent).

You might want to encourage budget-conscious customers to buy flowers by the stem and put their design skills to the test — "something homemade" was the No. 2 choice of 51 percent of gift recipients.

--Kate F. Penn
kpenn@safnow.org

 

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